Absence Poem by Rashmi Menon

Absence

No, I don't miss seeing you
Tilt your head a little to the side
As you half-listen to whatever
Gibberish I choose to spout,
The spout of the tea pot
Steaming up the space
between you and me.

No, I miss not the least
Hearing you pause
At the other end of the phone,
Pauses that I fill up
As I please,
A Santa gifting moments
To herself.

No, I don't miss
Seeing your name in the inbox,
Seeing a few terse lines
In reply, ever so polite,
To my five hundred flowery
Fatalistic figments.

Nor do I long
For the walks together,
Me struggling
to keep pace
as you walked,
blissfully brisk, your gaze
fixed somewhere
I knew not where.

No, I don't remember
The roses you never sent,
Despite my dropping
Blood-red hints,
Drippy and demanding,
Stalked as I did you
For roses that never bloomed.

It's just that absence
Has not made the heart grow
Fonder.
Try, as I do,
I only remember you
And can't feel your absence.